Martin Jørgensen

Lars Martin Jørgensen (born October 6, 1975) is a Denmark professional football (soccer) player, who currently plays for Italy club ACF Fiorentina in the Serie A championship. Jørgensen has played 80 matches and scored 12 goals for the Denmark national football team. He has played for his country at two FIFA World Cups and two UEFA European Football Championship tournaments. He is the older brother of Danish football player Mads Jørgensen.

Biography

Born in Ryomgaard at Djursland he began his club career at the local club IF Midtdjurs. Jørgensen moved to Aarhus GF as a youngster. Jørgensen's footballing talent was recognized as he was chosen to represent various Danish youth national teams from 1991 onward. He made his senior debut for Aarhus GF in 1993, and was a part of the GF team that won the 1996 Danish Cup trophy. He was named 1996 Danish Football Association Young Players of the Year, and eventually set a record of 31 games for the Denmark national under-21 football team, scoring 9 goals.

His contract with AGF had a release clause permitting Jørgensen to leave the club on a free transfer (soccer) in April 1997. He moved to Italy, to play alongside fellow Dane Thomas Helveg at Udinese Calcio in the Serie A championship. He helped Udinese finish third in the Serie A 1997-98, and made his debut for the senior Danish national team in March 1998, under national team coach Bo Johansson. He was chosen to represent Denmark at the 1998 FIFA World Cup, where he got his international breakthrough. He took part in all five Denmark matches at the tournament and scored the opening goal in the 2-3 quarter-final defeat to eventual runners-up Brazil national football team.

Jørgensen was called up by Johansson to compete for Denmark at the 2000 UEFA European Football Championship, despite being injured. The tournament was no success for Jørgensen, who played a single game as Denmark were eliminated in the preliminary group stage. He made his second World Cup appearance, under new coach Morten Olsen, at the 2002 FIFA World Cup. He played in Denmark's three group stage matches, before suffering an injury which kept him from playing the 2nd round where Denmark were eliminated. At the 2004 UEFA European Football Championship, Jørgensen played in all Denmark's four matches before elimination.

After spending seven years at Udinese, Jørgensen moved to league rivals ACF Fiorentina in August 2004, when Fiorentina bought half of Jørgensen's transfer fee rights.

International goals

Honours

- 1996 Danish Cup
- 1996 Danish Football Association Young Players of the Year